STRASBOURG (Sputnik) — Russia's absence at the meetings of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will deal a blow to the assembly's performance, a PACE Bureau member from Italy told Sputnik on Friday.
"I think the absence of the Russian delegation will make things worse."
"In my opinion, they should have stayed. The Council of Europe is a place to discuss diplomatic matters so it is always bad when the delegation is out, and we don't have the occasion to discuss and hear their reasons," Adele Gambaro, the chairman of PACE's Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, said.
The next debate over Russia's PACE credentials is due in June, according to the Assembly's president, Anne Brasseur.
